1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure is generally directed to mechanical scales, and more particularly to a water resistant damper and a quick stop mechanical scale used in the food service industry.
2. Description of Related Art
Many mechanical weighing apparatuses, or scales, are known in the art. One problem with mechanical scales occurs when an object to be weighed is placed on the load platform. The weighing mechanism, often incorporating a spring, tends to bounce or oscillate before coming to rest. This causes the indicator needle to also oscillate or bounce and delay in reaching a final measurement position. Some mechanical scales are known to employ a dampening mechanism to attenuate such oscillations and to assist the indicator needle in quickly stopping at its final measurement position.
A food service environment, such as a commercial kitchen, must by law be kept in a highly sanitary condition. One reason is to avoid cross contamination of the various food preparation and other work surfaces. A weighing apparatus used in such a food service environment must therefore be maintained in a sanitary condition. At a minimum, the load or weighing platform of the scales, and often the entire exterior of the scales, must be washed frequently. However, the presence of excessive moisture can negatively impact the accuracy and performance of a mechanical scale.
Some mechanical scales claim varying degrees of water resistance. One problem with current scale designs is that often only portions of the scale, such as a housing or platform, are submersible in water or are dishwasher safe. Thus, such a scale must be partly disassembled in order to wash the water resistant components or specific surfaces must be cleaned on the scale by hand while avoiding getting other parts of the scale wet. In many such cases, a number of the scale parts can not be adequately washed because they are not water resistant.
As noted above, some scales employ a mechanical dampening device or damper to assist in quickly stopping oscillation of the weighing platform. Such mechanical dampening devices are typically not water resistant. A typical dampening device for a mechanical scale has a partly open housing with a restricted air passage open to an air chamber. A piston moves within the damper to alter the air chamber size and a piston shaft moves in concert with the piston. The passage restricts air flow into and out of the chamber. The air flow resistance damps movement of a scale component connected to the piston shaft. If exposed to or submersed in water, the passages and/or chambers can take in water, which can prevent the device from functioning properly. Water contamination of the damper can either eliminate the dampening effect or hinder, or even prevent, movement of the damper shaft and piston. This in turn can inhibit or prevent the scale platform from moving properly. A completely water-tight damper may be devised and/or employed. However, such a device would typically be quite sophisticated and expensive and thus not suited for use on a conventional, relatively lower cost mechanical scale of this type.